TME > Video > Commercial Releases

Revelation of the Daleks


The Doctor and Peri arrive on the planet Necros, home of Tranquil Repose, a funeral home for the galaxy's elite. But is this the Doctor's own final resting place? And why do Daleks guard the inner sanctums of the perpetually interred? Perhaps the Great Healer will have the answers.

-- from the DVD release, 2005

The sixth Doctor's sole Dalek story proved to be the final of his VHS releases, but one of the first DVDs.

Episode timings on DVD: 44'32", 45'29"
Episode timings on PasC: 44'31", No time given

 

VHS releases


15/11/1999: UK - BBC Worldwide - BBCV6972
??/12/1999: Aus/NZ - Roadshow - Z00383
09/11/2001: US - Warner - E1572 [Not pictured]

Cover art by Black Sheep.

The first of an annual BBC Video event, this release (confusingly titled The Daleks, leading to confusion for stockists with the 1989 release of the 1963/4 story and also the 1993 box set) featured Planet Of The Daleks (Part Three in b/w only) and Revelation Of The Daleks (with the Jimi Henrix track poorly removed). The tin was BBCV6875. These were in all ways presented as two separate stories, and could be displayed on the shelf as such, but with a tin surrounding them - this would be the case for the two tins that followed. Indeed, in Australia both tapes were released individually in 2000 and in America they were released in 2000 (E1495, Planet Of The Daleks) and 2001 (E1572, Revelation Of The Daleks).


The VHS had a gatefold sleeve explaining the history of the episodes and the musical edit.

18/09/2001: UK - BBC Worldwide - BBCV7241
??/??/2002: Aus - Roadshow Entertainment - Cat# Unknown [not pictured]

The 2001 release was part of the WHSmith exclusive Davros boxset (BBCV7241), which also included Genesis, Destiny, Resurrection and Revelation of the Daleks. This set was limited to 10,000 copies and the videos were simply new runs of the existing VHS releases - except Remembrance, which was taken from the current PAL master at the time - with the corrected effects that would only appear on the NTSC DVDs, but the Billy J Kramer version of Do You Want To Know A Secret as on the PAL DVD, and also Genesis, which was taken from the cleaned up version prepared in 1999 for the BBC2 repeat. With the exception of Revelation (which already had a Black Sheep design), the covers were all created anew in the style of the current VHSs (but with a linking spine illustration), and the new Remembrance cover was used on the following year's US DVD release.

DVD releases



03/07/2005: UK - BBC Worldwide - BBCDVD1357
??/??/2005: Aus/NZ - Roadshow Entertainment - Cat# Unknown [not pictured]
06/06/2006: US - Warner Home Video - E2504
02/07/2007: UK - 2|entertain - BBCDVD1357
27/07/2007: UK - 2|entertain/Amazon - Cat# Unknown
26/11/2008: UK - 2|entertain - Cat# Unknown

Cover art by Clayton Hickman for the UK/Aus.

As with the VHS release, the Jimi Hendrix track "Fire" had to be replaced. This was done somewhat more subtly than previously however, and the music was replaced with "Witches Dance" from a stock album.

A technical error on the DVD causes it to freeze on some players when it reaches the first section with replaced CGI. The best way to fix this seems to be to go to the special features menu and specifically select CGI on or off before starting.

In early 2007, Amazon exclusively packaged together The Dalek Invasion of Earth, Genesis of the Daleks, Resurrection of the Daleks, Revelation of the Daleks and Remembrance of the Daleks into a box set - the contents and sleeve designs were as before, just with an added slipcase.

In Summer 2007, 2|entertain repackaged Spearhead from Space, Genesis of the Daleks, The Hand of Fear, Earthshock, The Five Doctors, Revelation of the Daleks, Remembrance of the Daleks and The 1996 Movie in new packaging, generally based on the existing art inside a circle motif - these were, however, just cardboard slipcases over the existing releases, and at a lower price-point.

For Christmas 2008, 2|entertain released The Davros Collection. This packaged together the existing discs for Genesis of the Daleks, Resurrection of the Daleks, Revelation of the Daleks along with an enhanced Remembrance of the Daleks, the simultaneously-released Destiny of the Daleks and a new disc featuring the documentary Davros Connections, plus an eighth disc containing the Big Finish Davros audios along with a new production The Davros Mission.

DVD Bonus features

Revelation Exhumed (45'52")
An exhaustive documentary on the making of this classic.
  • Eric Saward ponders the concept of putting death at the centre of a story.
  • Clive Swift describes the whole thing as "bizarre", Graeme Harper enthuses over the guest characters and Trevor Cooper discusses the relationship between Jobel and Tasambeker - Saward explains his inspirations.
  • Pat Godfrey and Swift discuss Jobel's toupee and Saward expresses his disappointment at Tasambeker's performance.
  • Hugh Walters offers his thoughts on the character relationships and his death scene. Saward explains his intentions with Kara and Vogel.
  • Godfrey on Eleanor Bron's costume.
  • Saward, Harper, Godfrey and William Gaunt discuss Orcini.
  • Colin Spaull explains the Laurel and Hardy style double-act he formed part of.
  • Talk turns to Davros... Cooper, Molloy and Saward discuss the transition from a ranting Davros to a more subtle and three-dimensional character.
  • Molloy talks about the mask problems and Saward about the challenges facing a writer using the Daleks. Roy Skelton and Alexei Sayle explain how the voice artists tried to help add some differentiation to them.
  • Skelton then goes on to talk about the relationship between Dalek operators and voices and Sayle accuses them of being a bit camp. The cast then all recall how much they'd kept themselves to themselves.
  • Harper, Saward and Sayle discuss the DJ character, and Saward his concerns at Sayle's very deadpan rehearsals.
  • Saward tells us hid disappointment at the development of Peri and the changes he tried to introduces in this story.
  • Godfrey talks about the blue funeral outfits briefly.
  • Saward explains the statue was written in at the request of John Nathan-Turner and Swift offers his somewhat negative opinion on it.
  • Designer Alan Spalding talks about location hunting and prop pinching, John Brace about enhancing the IBM building and Harper on the design work overall.
  • The unexpected snow is next up - Harper, Godfrey, Spalding and Brace talk about how they overcame the shocking conditions, the Daleks and trying to find a lake.
  • Walters tells us the difficulty of working with special effects.
  • Brace reminds us how important the director is, Harper talks about his memories of Caves of Androzani, Saward explains why they asked Harper back and Spalding covers the cunning lighting Harper came up with.
  • Gaunt and Cooper talk about Harper's origins, Spaull about his willingness to discuss scenes with actors and Cooper, Saward, Molloy and Roger Limb about his positive energy. Harper explains why he likes to work on the studio floor.
  • Limb covers his music and why he enjoyed working with Harper. Harper also enthuses about Limb's work.
  • Harper and Saward offer their final thoughts on the long-lasting appeal of the story.

Interviewer: Victoria Berry
With Thanks To Dan O'Keefe, Mark Dando, Mark Knops, Steve Roberts, Mark Ayres, John Brace, Tim Splisbury
Camera: Paul Rawson, Paul Vanezis
Sound: Mark Windsor-Hampton
Colourist: Jonathan Wood
Music: Roger Limb, Matt Shire-Jones, Tony Gordon
Editor: Ed Stradling
Producer: John Kelly
BBC Worldwide (C) BBC MMV

 

In Studio (15'36")
Highlights from the sole surviving 80 minute tape of raw footage.
Music: Roger Limb
Producer: John Kelly
BBC Worldwide (C) BBC MMV

Information Text
By Richard Molesworth

CGI Effects
An option to view the story with recreated laser beams and levitation shots. The sequence with the levitating Dalek that explodes had to be recreated from scratch using a modern Dalek model against greenscreen.
 
Deleted Scenes (2'15")
Three short scenes edited from the programme before broadcast.
Easter Egg: ADR Work (0'48")
Nudge left on the main title screen from Episode Selection, to see video footage of the actors recreating sounds from 20 years previously, in the name of the 5.1 mix.
 

Restoration Notes

The story underwent basic PAL Transform decoding and dropout correction under the eye of Jonathan Wood. Along with digital artist Ian Simpson, he also rebuilt/corrected the shot in which the camera drops "through" the floor, two composite shots of the Doctor and Peri on Davros' scanner, and a shot of the two in front of the building. Model sequences were purchased by the RT in a recent eBay auction and replaced at this point also. Mark Ayres, as usual, worked on the general audio restoration, the isolated soundtrack and the 5.1 soundtrack (which caused problems due to some missing audio in a discussion about the bomb, which was careful picked from an alternate take of the same scene, some missing foley work, which was recreated, and some ADR work, which was re-recorded during the interview sessions).

Classifications

28/10/1999 - Passed as 'PG' by the BBFC for the UK
01/05/2000 - Passed as 'PG' by the OFLC for Aus/NZ for 'Low Level Violence'
29/04/2005 - Extras passed as 'PG' by the BBFC for the UK
22/06/2005 - Passed as 'PG' by the OFLC for Aus/NZ for 'Mild Violence'